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NSP9454
This might be a limited snow year, but we were still able to find lots of good skiing. It would have been even better if there was more snow. All lifts are fixed grip; no high speed lifts. But there is lots of beautiful views on a clear day to enjoy on the ride up the mountain. All the employees were helpful and pleasant.
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Merran
This was a return trip for us and sadly this time the snow was disappointing, but that was not the resorts fault. Rossland is nearby as are Trail and Nelson, both worth a look. There is not much at Red and unfortunately recent developments at Red are not an improvement in our view.
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548helener
Despite the limited trails that were skiable during my visit, I could see that RED offers a lot of skiing for intermediate and expert skiers across 4 mountains. I highly recommend skiing with one of their helpful and free "ski hosts" who know as much about the history of RED as the ski trails. Have them take you down the run where the very first World Cup in Canada was held in 1968. This is a very low-key resort with serious skiers. The bar, "Rafters," at the base and Paradise for lunch on the mountain are worth a visit. This is not the easiest ski destination to get to, but when the snow returns - book it!
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TerriAnnHayes
This is one of my favorite ski haunts. When there's snow, and you're standing at the top of Paradise, looking down on the clouds and adjacent mountaintops, there is no better place to ski. The hill is relaxed, staff are friendly, and there is a nice mix of easy, intermediate and challenging runs: something for everyone! The little lodge at the top of the Paradise lift is charming, albeit a little small for the hordes of people trying to find a table for lunch. Planning to eat before 11 or after 1 is a better bet. The food's not bad, and reasonably priced. There's also a microwave available if you want to BYO.Unfortunately, they don't make snow, and so they were already in Spring skiing mode when we visited in mid-February. Lower elevation runs were a mess, but there was still a lot of great terrain at the top. Regardless, we had a great day of skiing, and can't wait for our next ski trip to Red Mountain.
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grivola
Lack of snow didn't reflect on the great ski potential we might have had if el Nino hadn't ruined the winter. The vibe was good, the terrain looked amazing but the rocks were all over the remaining snow cover. There was a nice laid back feel to the place, the base lodge wasn't one of those hyper developed Vail type resorts. Chairs were slow but suited to the pace of this lovely ski area.
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395jeffh
There have been a few bad snow seasons these past few years but all of the northwest has been equally affected. When the snow comes there is no better place to be if you want to ski hard. I've returned from CAT ski trips to Red on a powder day and hands down preferred skiing Red for its awesome 'wild' terrain with no out of bounds, non-existent lift lines, and pockets where fresh tracks hide for weeks. The slack-country also deserves mention.
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D3TO
In a good snow year, which this isn't for western resorts, Red would be perfection. As it was, the "steep and deep" was more steep and stump (and rock and mud and snow-concrete), so the groomers won out. Still, the mountain really does boast some awesome and challenging terrain, beautiful views, and NO crowds... We had runs all to ourselves (how nice is that?!), and skied right onto lifts. Yes, the lifts are slow, but think of it as a welcome rest for the legs, time for conversation and a chance to soak up the views. We stayed at Slalom Creek at the base of the mountain, very nice. Overall, this is a real skier's mountain.... charmingly old-school, with a proud history, friendly locals, and a very chill vibe. Red, keepin' it real.
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923joseg
This is it, after years of traveling the planet looking for our perfect ski destination, we found it. Red Mountain British Columbia, there is just no way to do it justice in words ... however ... This is a relatively small resort by Vail or Big Sky standards, but incredible powder, post card panoramas, trail perfection - trees, moguls, long curvy blacks and blue groomers. One or two lifts get you anywhere on this incredible collection of 3 small mountains. My wife is an expert and myself intermediate to advance, we both had all the terrain we needed to feel challenged and exhilarated. Just raw post card quality scenery everywhere - Imagine coming down an easy mogul field with powder coated pines on either side, blue bird sky above, and clouds below you covering the valley, no civilization in sight ... you have to pause and just listen to the silence and know this could easily be a once in a life time moment. A few small restaurants on the mountain and the food was excellent and service personal.The Canadians that live there and in nearby Rossland were incredibly friendly and seemed genuinely glad you were visiting and proud of their city / mountain. There is an excellent grocery store in Rossland and good shuttle service to/from the mountain so take advantage of the condo's kitchen, save a few $$$ and eat a meal or two at home in your condo.Less than 5 minutes away is the Black Jack Cross Country Ski club - wow amazing. They have green, blue, and black groomed trails and a series of warming huts along the trails that you can stop into and light a fire to warm up. As the day goes on skiers keep the fires going as they pass through so you'll usually find a warm hut with a crackling wood stove waiting. We took a day off from down hill at Red, rented gear (was in great condition) and gave the green trails a try. What a blast and again, quietly gliding along through the giant powder covered pines was almost surreal, I could see not going home till spring.We'll be going back to Red every few years as long as we can. Above any other ski vacation spot we've ever visited, I would recommend Red as a must experience.Wishing you great skiingJoe and Yoshimi
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abigllama
This was our second visit to Red and already planning a trip to come back next year. Amazing, challenging terrain. There's also some great cruisers on Paradise and Grey. The groom is good where it's needed and for a break but Red is all about steep and deep.Staff are all really friendly and cool and glad to tell you were some great lines are. The lifts are old school and slow, but there's no lines and the legs welcome the break. Everyone there is serious about skiing and happy to talk about their lines over beers at Rafters. This is the big mountain experience without the nonsense or attitude you get with big mountain resorts these days.
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mistermaui
Red mountain has a bit of a cult status, similar to Whitewater and kicking Horse. Certainly, back in the 1960's, there was a cache to skiing the original hill, made famous by Canada's answer to Jean Claude Killy- Nancy Greene.But now, with their expansion to Granite, and then Grey Mountains, plus the proliferation of condos at the mountain base, their is a supposed upping of stature. The advertising makes Rossland appear to be in the league of Breckenridge.Sadly, this isn't quite the case. There is a nice intermediate area, Paradise, to one side of Granite, and a raft of double blacks on Granite and Grey. Plus a bunch of stuff in between. So the terrain is pretty good.But there are two major problems. First, the lifts are fixed, and some are painfully slow. The 'new' lift on Grey is badly located- having been purchased from Alyeska, AK, it was of fixed length, and begins too high up the hill to allow a traverse from the top of Silverlode Chair. One needs to go right to the top of Motherlode, take a long circuitous green piste to the bottom of Grey, then ride Grey Chair to the top.Second, the hill preparation, both logging and slope conditioning, was badly done. I suspect they did the expansion too quickly, and just did not have enough of a budget to do a good job. In a poor snow year (Jan. 2015, snow was in short supply here), there just isn't the coverage to hide the shrubs and stumps. Consequently, many runs were marginal or closed. In contrast, Schweitzer a few hours south, had even less snow, but almost the entire mountain was skiable and meticulously groomed.I'd come back in a couple of years, partly to see if they have upped their game, and only if there was a decent snow base. But I would not expect Red to have recovered its original magic.
